The Dark Side of Netflix

4/10/2010

Just as Netflix chose to please Warner Brothers at the expense of subscribers by artificial delaying the rental of new releases by twenty-eight days, Netflix is rolling over for Universal and 20th Century Fox. Now, if you want to watch an new release from Warner Brothers, Universal, or 20th Century Fox, expect to wait at least four weeks longer than you usually wait to see the movie.

Supposedly, this deal will allow Netflix subscribers greater access to older movies. The deal is favorable to the movie studios because they are hoping to push people into buying more DVDs. If you like watching old movies and waiting a long time to see new releases, Netflix is for you. If you like watching new releases, then you have just been shafted by three movie studios and their complicit partner: Netflix.

How much longer will the movie watchers accept this egregious behavior before they start turning to the option of downloading movies? Downloading movies keeps getting easier, and the image and sound quality keeps getting better. The movie studios have successfully shut down some file sharing sites, but new sites keep popping up. Haven't these studios learned anything from what happened to the music industry?

9 comments:

This is why pirating movies is a good thing. The more the studios tell the consumers to fuck off, the more I think sites like Pirate Bay are like the Robin Hood's of the internet. It's bad enough we have to pay $11 to see a movie that usually sucks, and deal with the morons in the theater that mess up the experience, but making us wait to see new releases back to VCR days is ridiculous.

But, then, what did you expect? Companies pay each other to screw us all the time, so why should Netflix be any different? I mean, of all companies, did you expect NETFLIX to be above common shady practice? Or perhaps just FOX and Universal? Nope. I've had integrity issues with them too. I'm on a "used disc only" relationship with FOX, and Universal is pushing for it. This is because buying used films doesn't net them any new money.

But, if you lose a download and it's been put on moratorium, as movies often are, you're just SOL. With a hard copy, you always have a backup. Besides, a hard copy ALWAYS comes with a free digital copy. A digital copy NEVER comes with a free hard copy. Never. And, if you're going to say I'm wrong about a hard copy always coming with a free digital copy, it's because you're still stuck in the '80s. Everyone who matters always makes digital copies of their movies now anyway.

Look not to defend Netflix or the Movie Makers. As much as I like Netflix I think the Movie makers really are trying to squeeze every last dime. But people tend to blame Netflix and/or Hulu for what the Movie companies are doing. But would Netflix even exist for this blog to exist if the movie companies said "fine, you can no longer rent our movies, we are pulling the plug on this contract".

Think about it, yes Netflix has a profit to watch, so much so that they know if they don't offer the brightest and best out there nobody and I mean nobody would buy their service at all. They simply become another scan ripping people off by making them pay for movies from the 1960's.

The Copyright Act of 1976 gives extensive protection to the video rental industry. The movie studios would absolutely love to ban video rentals, but the US government says the studios do not have this power. The right to rent out DVDs is guaranteed under the law.

The rental companies do not have to comply with the demands of the studios. Due to the Copyright Act of 1976, the rental companies have the option of buying DVDs on the open retail market and renting those DVDs to customers, regardless of what the studios want. The rental companies avoid doing this, because the higher retail costs eat into profits. So, when Netflix rolls over for a studio, they are doing so willingly and hoping that the consumer will accept the abuse.

The net result is that Netflix makes more profit off of the consumers, and the consumers continue to pay the same price for longer waits on movies. This may be a profitable way of doing business, but it certainly is not providing substantial benefits to the consumers.

These deals may go away before too long. All you need is a DVD Express kiosk in your area to make them worthless. They have made no deals with the movie production companies. The day it's out in the stores, it's for rent at the DVD Express box around the corner from my house. Granted, they are not as widespread as Redbox, but they are growing.

I to am tired of Netflix annoying pop-ups and advertisements. Why do we have to put up with kind of invasion of our desktop! I have been boycotting TV because of over saturation of commercials. We pay more and more to cable company's to be saturated by commercial after commercial. Netflix will never find it's way into my life and if ever a class action suite is brought against them for their underhanded tricks I will be quick to participate. NETFLIX... KISS MY ASS!

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